Cold and Empty
by SparkYoshi
Summary: 'Why can't I remember who I am? Where am I? Why does everything seem to want me dead? Why do I feel like something is watching me? More importantly... is anyone else out there...' Rated T for violence and possibly some dark themes. Realistic!Minecraft
1. A waken

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Guess what I'm working on instead of Nexus Perpetuam? This random brainchild of mine. Yeaaaaaaaah *shot in face***

**The idea of this came from one day when I was contemplating the whole idea of Minecraft and realized how it's rather depressing... and scary. Initially, I was going to turn it into a short comic, but then I started writing up the script of said comic and went, "Heck, I love writing this, I'll turn it into a full-blown story!"**

**I'll only continue this if it's made clear people like it. I don't know fully where I'm going with it, and I honestly don't know if it's good or not... reviews are GREATLY appreciated.  
**

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**CHAPTER 1**

The first thing I became aware of was the warmth.

Warmth, gently beating down on me from above. My lethargic mind didn't have knowledge of what it was, only that it was _there_. Yes, I was warm, and horribly exhausted. As soon as I began to approach consciousness, I started to sink back into the oblivion. I was too tired to comprehend anything.

Several times, I lapsed in and out of consciousness, only to succumb to the overwhelming weakness and exhaustion. Each time, however, I slowly became more aware. I was aware of my body- I was lying, slightly sprawled, on my side- completely unmoving aside from the rise and fall of my chest. I felt a cool, slightly spongy surface below me that seemed to cling to my skin somewhat... _soil?_ Is that what it's called?

I suddenly realized why it was so dark. I hadn't even mustered the strength to open my eyes yet. Struggling against the desire to fall unconscious once more, I dragged my eyelids open. I saw a blend of colors- various shades of green, brown, and yellow. As my vision came more into focus, the shapes sharpened into a clear picture. A relatively flat, earthy brown ground. Flat, green and yellow shapes- _leaves, they're called leaves_- were strewn in clusters on the soil. Higher up, there was a pale blue sky, littered by wispy white shapes _(clouds)_, and an almost frighteningly bright object which made me recoil and avoid eye contact with _(the... sun? Ah, so that's where the warmth was coming from...)_.

The most notable features were the tall brown structures which stood firmly out of the earthy floor. They had pointed, twisted shapes branching off from the top, with many leaves sprouting out of them, rustling softly in the faint breeze. What were these structures called again...? After a few moments of blank staring, the word _'trees'_ floated to the top of my muddled brain. Another word, closely associated with 'trees', also appeared... _forest._

I was in a forest. At least I knew that much.

But how _did _I know that?

I dizzily began to push myself upright, almost collapsing again in the process as the lethargy of my prior slumber kicked in. As my coordination improved and I managed to get in a sitting position, I vaguely wondered exactly how long I had been unconscious. _What happened to me? _

Then, another thought appeared in quick succession to the last one._ Who am I? _

This question disturbed me more than anything else. I searched my memory for something, anything I experienced before I woke up, but there was nothing. It was absolutely, utterly blank. It wasn't to say that I was wiped clean to the point where I knew nothing- and although my knowledge was slightly hazy at the moment, it was clear I knew about... things. I knew I was alive, most certainly. I knew language, I knew that I was a human, and I knew things about humans. I knew how to move my body, however clumsy it might be from my grogginess. I also knew about the things around me, although it took some time for me to recollect the terms- such as the trees, soil, leaves, and forest.

However, I realized how many things I _should_ know, but I didn't. Like something was conspicuously missing from my memory, removed forcibly and unnaturally. For instance, my name. I knew that humans usually had names which they called themselves, but I couldn't recall my name, or any name for that matter. In addition, I remembered that humans lived together in... towns, or cities, something along the lines of _civilization._ I, however, was alone. Completely alone. And in a forest (I was fairly positive that humans did not reside in forests), with nothing alive within my sight. Especially no humans.

And that realization made my insides lurch uncomfortably. Something had happened to me... I knew that much. But what? I didn't even know who I was, but I wanted to know. I _needed_ to know. I didn't know why this mattered so much to me, but I couldn't stand living without knowing my purpose in the world.

I was fully awake by this point, and I quickly came up with an objective in my head. Surely this forest couldn't be too far away from civilization. Perhaps if I found other humans, I could learn something from them. Maybe I could learn who I am, and find out how I ended up in this forest in the first place.

Satisfied with my established goal, I slowly got to my feet. Upon spotting my faded black jeans and murky brown boots, I was struck with sudden curiosity. I realized that I didn't know what I looked like. I knew the appearance of humans, in general, but did I know what I in particular looked like?

I gave myself a quick analysis. I was wearing a plain gray, long-sleeved T-shirt with a thin white undershirt beneath it. The fabric was worn and rugged, as though I had been wearing it for a long time. And although I searched my pockets, there was nothing in them except some pocket lint. Now for my actual body... I was rather limited on that aspect. My skin appeared the usual peach color, albeit lightly tanned in some places. Obviously, I couldn't see my face, but I yanked a few strands out of my hair to determine the hair color- it was black.

Somehow, having this knowledge slightly reduced the discomforting pit that had formed in my stomach. But only slightly.

Without much thought, I began walking in a direction, my footsteps crunching on the dead leaves and sticks. Judging from the sun's position in the sky, it was midday- I should hurry. After a while, I noticed that not all the trees were brown- some were a pale, silvery color, with a duller shade of leaves. Interesting.

It was a long while of steady walking through the seemingly never-ending forest, before I found any sort of creature at all.

It only took a split second after spotting it to deduce that it definitely was _not _a human, which made my spirit plummet somewhat, but at the same time I was relieved to find _some _complex form of life. It was a plump, quadruped creature, possessing tan-colored skin with thin hair covering it. It had a stubby snout and beady eyes, pointed ears perked forward. As usual, it took a few seconds before I could remember what this particular animal was called- _wild pig_. Currently, it was sniffing around in the undergrowth, apparently searching for food. Even as I walked fairly close, it paid me no mind... which I found odd, as I automatically assumed it would take me as a threat and flee.

I was suddenly conscious of why there was an uncomfortable pit in my stomach- part of it was hunger. And I had a sudden desire to kill and eat this pig, to keep my strength up on my search for civilization. But... it didn't feel right. I had already gotten very close to it, and it was plainly ignoring me- like it was trusting that I wasn't going to attack it. I didn't feel like betraying anything's trust, whether it be another person or not. Besides, even though I understood that it would be a convenient option to eat the pig, I lacked any sort of weapon to kill it with. That alone stopped any plan I had to consume pork tonight.

Leaving the pig behind, I continued walking, but this time with another objective- to find food. Since meat was currently out of the question, I would have to settle for vegetation, or something else that didn't require tools to eat. I noticed various mushrooms at the base of the trees, so I began foraging among them to see if there were any which were edible. I became aware that I had a basic understanding of which mushrooms were edible and which were not- I had a lingering feeling that the red ones with spots were poisonous, while the plain brown/white ones were edible. I was silently grateful for this inner knowledge as I uprooted the small fungi.

As I sat down in a clearing, consuming the food ravenously, I inwardly winced at the rubbery and bland taste. At least they eased the pangs of hunger somewhat. I would definitely need to find more sustenance later on... on just mushrooms, I wouldn't last long.

I noticed how the hue of the sunlight had changed, and I looked up to see the sun starting to set on the horizon. Unfortunately, I would have to camp in this clearing for the night. It seemed like the end of the forest was nowhere in sight, and I had to keep my strength up for another day of travel.

And so I went about trying to start a fire.

It wasn't exactly necessary, considering that the air was pleasantly warm and I lacked any sort of food to cook over it, but I did it anyway. Perhaps I just wanted something, even if it were just a campfire, to accompany me throughout the night. To make me feel more secure. It would provide me some additional light, too.

Preparing the area for a campfire was easy. There was plenty of dead, dry wood and material around- I had a feeling that this forest hadn't seen rain recently. By the time I cleared a large enough area and collected enough dead leaves and bark, the sky was a very rosy shade of orange. It was getting shadowy and dim in the woods around me. I worked more quickly, aware that once night fell I wouldn't be able to see as well, so I couldn't work as precisely.

Finally, I inspected around the base of the surrounding trees, eventually locating two rather sharp rocks. I scraped them together repeatedly at an angle, trying to spark a fire. It was a good half an hour before I managed to get a tiny spark, and even longer before the sparks actually caught onto the material pile and set aflame. I felt a surge of hope in my chest. Maybe I could get a hang of survival after all.

I stoked the fire, adding more fuel, until it was fairly large. I scooted backwards to avoid getting burned. Now it was completely dark out- as I absentmindedly looked up at the smoke trailing into the sky, I noticed tiny pinpricks of light _(stars)_ dotting the black expanse. I heard absolutely no sounds from the environment, aside from a couple of sporadic cricket chirps.

Letting my mind wander, I realized how alone I felt, with absolutely no company besides the darkness and the fire. And the only other creature I've seen so far is that one wild pig- not a single human being. I felt a discomforting pang of loneliness at the thought.

_Will I be alone... forever?_

I anxiously dismissed the thought. There had to be other humans out there. Someone I could talk to, and figure out my past. And, more importantly, determine what I was going to do now. I would survive long enough to find my purpose. I had to.

Facing the fire, I curled up on the forest floor, disappointed it wasn't something more comfortable, but it would have to do for now. Next morning, I would locate some more food, and I would continue my search. Hopefully I would find a way out of this everlasting forest sometime tomorrow.

As I drifted off into slumber, I had a faint feeling that something was watching me... but it was probably just my imagination.


	2. L ast night

**The first chapter was horribly boring, so I decided to upload the second chapter ahead of schedule. However, since I did that, don't expect the third chapter anytime soon...**

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**CHAPTER 2**

I jolted out of unconsciousness very suddenly. Maybe it was due to a fairly unnerving dream I had just moments previously (yet I couldn't quite recall at the moment), but I had a feeling that it wasn't the whole reason. Groggily, I got up from my spot on the ground and sat upright, trying to pinpoint the sudden disturbance.

I gave a small twitch of surprise as I heard it again. That's what it was- a noise. But it didn't sound like the background noises that I had been hearing before I fell asleep. It was the sound of dead leaves crunching at an irregular pace, coming from deep in the woods, and steadily getting louder...

My eyes widened as the pattern clicked in my brain. Footsteps. They were footsteps. Perhaps a wild animal...? But no, they bore no resemblance to that of an animal's pace... too deliberate...

In the dim light provided by the dying embers of the fire, I strained to make out the approaching shapes. They were tall, upright, with long legs and limbs- arms- dangling at their sides, torn clothing stretched over the torsos...

It couldn't be... _humans?_

The thought was certainly optimistic, and the lonely part of me desperately hoped it to be true.

However, the more alert and analyzing part of me quickly realized that something was wrong.

Their gait was more like limping than actual walking. Instead of respectfully stopping at the other edge of the clearing, like I would have expected them to, they kept coming. And now that they were in the light, a chill went down my spine as I fully comprehended the horror of what I was witnessing.

There were about four of them, in total. All of them had dead, soulless eye sockets that stared straight ahead, blankly. Instead of healthy tan skin, they bore moldy, rotten green skin that grotesquely hung off in places. One of them had such a mutilated torso that I could see the ribs and internal organs hanging out. The hair had long since fallen out, leaving bald, decaying skulls. The clothing was torn and stained beyond recognition, and the fingernails were ragged and had grown beyond the digits. Their mouths hung open limply, lolling tongue hanging out, and bearing a jaw filled of decayed teeth that looked disturbingly threatening despite the apparent bluntness.

My only thought before one of them blindly lunged at me was the appalled recognition of what they were.

_Zombies._

My shock had affected my reflexes, and I didn't get out of the way in time.

Searing pain shot up my right leg as the zombie tore hard into it with its claw-like nails. I barely suppressed a scream, even though I could feel my blood, hot and sticky, pour out of the open wound. It wasn't done, though, as it dragged me towards it in an attempt to bite into my calf, but I gave it a solid kick with my other leg to send it stumbling backwards. I couldn't even think at the moment- my brain was occupied by the instinctive '_fight-or-flight' _instinct. And without any way to defend myself, there was only one option left to me.

The other zombies surged forward as I quickly fled, one of them managing to graze my side immediately before I scrambled up the trunk of a particularly large tree, trying as much as possible not to put any pressure on my leg. I found a particularly high crook in one of the branches, and I leaned backwards against it to catch my breath. Thankfully, the zombies seemed to have limited brainpower, as they simply stopped at the base of the tree and looked rather puzzled. Instead of climbing the tree, they began to stalk around it, intently watching their prey from below.

Adrenaline pounded in my ears, and I took shaky breaths in an attempt to calm myself. Pain radiated uncontrollably from my injured right leg- blood dripped down on the bark and began to trickle down, a scarlet river, to the earth. Now that I had the opportunity, I examined my wounds in more detail. My grazed side wasn't serious- although it looked badly scratched, it wasn't bleeding and I could probably deal with it. My right leg, on the other hand, looked absolutely horrible. It had deep claw marks tearing right through the calf and blood pouring from it rapidly. (How could those zombie nails be so sharp...?) _If I don't stop the bleeding soon, I'll die from blood loss._

Trying to stay calm (which was extremely difficult, considering my sweating and panicked breathing), I fumbled around with my already-torn pant leg. Deciding that there was no point in keeping the ripped clothing anyway, I forcibly tore off a good chunk of the fabric near the bottom, tightly wrapping it around the leg as a makeshift bandage. Obviously, it did nothing for the pain, but I hoped it was enough to keep the bleeding at bay.

Somewhat woozy, I leaned my head against the tree trunk and returned my attention to the zombies below. It still didn't seem to occur to them to climb the tree, thankfully- however, they didn't seem to be letting up and were still standing there, staring at me hungrily. How long would I have to wait them out before they left me alone? I roughly estimated that it was an hour or two past midnight- morning was a long time away. And I didn't even know if they'd be gone by then.

Or... perhaps I might be dead by then. That was actually a genius move on the zombies' part, now that I realized it. First wound their prey, trap it, then patiently wait for it to bleed to death and save themselves the trouble. My insides went cold at the thought, and as much as I tried to ignore that possibility, it remained very likely to occur.

At least I could participate in this stall war as well.

Minutes ticked by at an almost agonizingly slow pace. Several times I attempted to occupy myself with something to pass the time, with limited success. I initially tried to calm my panicking subconsciousness by taking deep breaths, as well as not letting my thoughts linger on my situation for too long. However, the dull throb of my wounds and the occasional moan from a zombie served as constant reminders, causing my panic to return even more strongly despite my attempts to quell it.

As calming myself down wasn't having any permanent success, I did something along the lines of the direct opposite- I tried to focus most of my attention on warily watching my pursuers. They weren't doing anything especially interesting, however- aside from wandering around at the base of the tree and letting out annoying groans, they definitely weren't making any attempt to get at me. Figures, considering my previous theory that they were waiting for me to die...

I felt the blood gradually seeping through my makeshift bandage. Apparently even the thick, tough fabric of my jeans couldn't hold back the bleeding for long. I realized that, with the constant bleeding, I was starting to get dizzy from blood loss. Cursing mentally, I tore off another strip and tossed the old one to the ground below. The zombies acted as though the blood-soaked fabric were a new toy, and immediately pounced on it and began attacking it viciously. After realizing that it wasn't alive nor edible, they abandoned the shredded material and returned their attention to me. I winced at the scene, having mental images of what they would do to me if I accidentally fell down there...

Trying to once again calm myself, I adjusted myself in a secure position in the branch, leaned back, and focused on evening out my breathing. The zombies would leave eventually, if they realized that I wasn't coming down anytime soon... I hoped. I pushed the pain of my injuries and the anxiety over the monsters to the back of my head, and eventually shut my eyes in my effort to relax.

I don't know exactly how long it was before I either fell asleep, or passed out.

* * *

Once again, I woke with a start. I hazily recalled having another dream, though the only thing I remembered about it was an unidentifiable scream. Maybe it was my own, but it was impossible to tell...

I felt unimaginably dizzy, and my attention went to my leg. All the fabric around it was scarlet and blood-soaked, but the wound had seemed to have clotted enough to greatly reduce the bleeding. Though I had lost a large quantity of my blood in the process- along with that, pain, fatigue and weariness threatened to drag me back into the oblivion. Thankfully, I had enough willpower to stay awake.

It was noticeably brighter out, though still far from daylight- it seemed that the sun was starting to rise. To my dismay, the zombies were still hanging out at the base of the tree. Either they were incredibly patient, or too stupid to realize the passage of time existed.

My stomach growled uncomfortably. The mushrooms from yesterday were almost nonexistent, and I knew that I'd have to leave the safety of the tree to find more food soon. But without a weapon, and no less than four or five zombies at the base of the tree, how would I ever get down alive?

Just as I was contemplating a method to possibly distract the monsters down below, the sunlight shone over the horizon, lighting up the forest a considerable amount. And what happened next was possibly the most bizarre thing I saw since I woke up in this world.

The instant the sun shone on the zombies, they suddenly stopped in their tracks. Seconds later, a disgusting, smoky odor filled the air, followed by the scent of burning flesh as flames began licking at the bodies of the monsters. The sunlight was _burning _the zombies.

They let out inhuman screeches as they futilely ran around in circles, apparently not realizing that they could do the basic stop, drop, and roll to extinguish the fire. It was quite the grotesque scene, as they clawed at the trunk of the tree and I was forced to watch as their skin bubbled and burned, practically melting off their skeletons. Quite a few of them collapsed, apparently dead, within mere moments of being set aflame.

I stared in numb shock, before the rational part of my brain kicked in and deduced that, since the zombies were now dead and it was now morning, I should keep moving. Cautiously, I squirmed out of my comfortable position in the branch, and I slowly climbed back down. My hurt right leg protested violently at any sort of pressure placed on it, so I was extremely careful to mostly use my left leg.

As I dropped down on the ground below, the collapsed, burnt zombies made no move. I tentatively nudged one of the corpses with my foot, and I determined that they had truly died from the sunlight. And yet, why did it only have that effect on them...? I definitely wasn't bursting into flame right now. Did it only apply to the undead? If that was true, I now had a traumatic fear of the night- monsters come out at night, and vanish by day. I gave an involuntary shudder- if the only humanoid creatures I could find were monsters that wanted to kill me, my future wasn't looking positive.

My stomach gave a protesting groan, reminding me of the matter I needed to attend to first.

But if I wanted any sort of chance of getting a decent meal in this forest, I would probably need to kill and eat some sort of animal. And to do that, I needed a sort of sharp object- or weapon. As an added bonus, it would protect me against any zombies that were still lingering in the forest. But how could I make such a weapon?

I left the clearing as soon as possible, as the stench of the rotting zombie corpses was starting to get unbearable. My walking speed was, unfortunately, reduced, as my leg made it impossible to move without limping painfully. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any more active zombies around, although I did spot quite a few corpses.

After distancing myself from the clearing, I found exactly what I was looking for.

A large scrap of wood, and a sharp rock. Perfect materials to fashion a sharp, pointed object. Now, all I needed was a sturdy, flat surface to serve as a workspace... but where?

I found my answer within the hour. A small stream, running down a hill, had an ample amount of boulders bordering the riverbank. Well aware of my parched throat, I wasted no time in drinking my fill from the cold water- I didn't care if it contained bacteria or filth, as long as it kept me alive.

One of the boulders was incredibly flat on the top, giving me my desired workspace. Tensing with concentration, I started to work. Using the stone, I began chipping away at the piece of wood, steadily sharpening it at the tip. It was slow and tedious, but I could see the blade starting to take shape. Several times I halted my progress to slash it against the bark of a tree. The first few times, it barely made a mark, but as work continued it began leaving deeper and deeper gashes. I was getting there.

Finally, by about midday, I believed I was finished. Sweating slightly from the laborious task, I cautiously examined my handiwork. The wooden dagger wasn't extremely big- somewhat longer than the length of my arm below the elbow, making it more like a large knife than a real dagger. The blade, despite being rather crooked (obviously due to my inexperience with weapon-making), looked dangerously sharp at the edges, and I was careful not to touch it. I also carved a handle, which was directly below the blade, and was comfortably round and could be grasped by my hand quite easily. As a final test, I lashed out and struck the tree once more. This time, the blade cut so deep into the trunk that once I pried out the weapon, sticky sap began oozing down the bark.

I grinned to myself, despite the continuous pain of my wounds and the gnawing pit of hunger in my stomach. I finally had a weapon, and no matter how small it was, I could finally protect myself and obtain proper food.

I might adapt to a survival lifestyle after all.


	3. L ifegiver

**Wow, I can't believe I'm getting these chapters out daily**. **I have a feeling that when school starts in a couple days I won't be as productive...**

**So enjoy the chapter, I guess? (Also, I'd like it if more people would review. The reviews are one of the things encouraging me to write more of this, so I'd appreciate it... thanks.)  
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**CHAPTER 3**

After an hour of searching, I finally found another animal. Or, in this case, _animals_- around five in total.

The creatures were far smaller than the wild pig I found the previous day. They had plump, stout bodies covered in white feathers, with laughably tiny wings folded to the sides. Their small heads possessed beady eyes, a blunt beak, and fleshy red wattles coming off the chin and head. They were waddling among the bases of the trees on scaly webbed feet, content to peck around at the soil for anything remotely edible. As I watched from a distance, one pulled out a wriggling worm and swallowed it whole.

My mind identified these creatures as _chickens._ Interestingly, it didn't seem to take quite as long for my memory to spark as last time. It must be getting sharper from my continued activity.

And, hopefully, these fat birds would be my next meal.

While traveling (rather slowly, at that- I hoped my leg would heal soon), I had found some shiny red apples hanging off the trees, and while those kept me going, they barely filled my stomach at all. My wooden dagger was adept at cutting them, so hopefully it could cut through flesh. As violent as that sounds.

Similar to the wild pig, the chickens made no move to flee when I approached, but I had a lingering feeling that would change once I made my move. My injured leg made it impossible to run without having knives of pain stab through my thigh, adding another difficulty. And... that same guilt haunted my thoughts, like last time I considered killing such docile animals.

I shoved the doubts out of my head, reminding myself that it was how nature works- if starving, you kill things to eat. Even the mushrooms from yesterday were technically alive, and I ate them without a complaint. I had to look at my situation from a logical perspective.

I mentally and physically prepared myself as I crept up on a particular chicken, who was facing away from me, pecking at some lone blades of grass without a care in the world. I reached into my pocket to unsheathe my weapon, and before I could hesitate too long, I lunge.

All that happened next was a blur. The chicken let out a loud alarm call just as I plunged the wooden blade through its chest, causing it to twist around violently with splatters of blood before I gave another stab and it collapsed, dead. The other chickens were fleeing wildly, being unusually quick for their size, but one straggled behind long enough for me to grab it, practically crush it in my hands in an attempt to stop it from struggling, seize its throat and with a sickening _crack, _its frantic clucking was abruptly silenced.

Afterwards, the area was unusually silent as I stood there, breathing heavily. I guess I could hardly believe that I actually managed to kill the creatures as fast as I did. Slightly dazed from the shock of it all, I quickly busied myself by cleaning the blood off my dagger by rubbing it on my shirt. Distantly, I realized that all my clothes seemed torn and blood-stained now... I'm definitely needed to obtain new clothing sometime in the future.

Now that I had food, I assumed that I would need to find someplace to cook it. This rather dense area of the forest didn't look suitable to start a fire- too many flammable objects within range of the smoke and flames. So I would have to move on, despite my exhaustion at spending the past day or so just _walking._ It was like a death march...

I collected both of the chickens, carefully grabbing them by their necks and holding them both with one hand. Just as I was preparing to leave, I felt a sudden chill go down my spine, and I was incredibly unnerved. Without even hesitating, I spun around tensely, but there was nothing there besides the forest, and the dappled sunlight coming in from the canopy. I paused for a moment before letting out an inaudible sigh of relief, turning around, and trotting off. I convinced myself that the incident with the zombies, along with the overall lack of sleep, had made me more paranoid than usual. My senses were screwed up, that was all... but subconsciously, I realized that it was unmistakable that for a second, the air in the woods seemed to go cold... and _something_ had been watching me.

But, once again, I forced myself to ignore it.

* * *

My right leg was still hurting, irritatingly, but after a while the straining agony became slightly more bearable, and I could afford to put more weight onto it. My limping stride was reduced somewhat, allowing me to walk a tad faster than before, and I was more thankful than anything else. Hopefully it would heal completely within a few days.

I noticed that the woods were thinning out considerably, and the grass seemed to be changing to a different shade- I was starting to exit the forest. I patiently waited until I reached a flat, relatively clear area before I worked on starting a fire. I made it more quickly than last time, perhaps due to having some more experience in the field. While stoking the flames, I also passed the time by skinning, gutting, and preparing the chickens. I was glad I didn't get overly squeamish at the sight of blood- otherwise, I might have passed out during the procedure. I guess I was too hungry to care anymore.

After the flames had gotten large enough, I took two fallen branches and stuck them in the ground, across each other, beside the campfire. Then, taking a particularly pointed branch, I impaled it through one of the raw chickens and balanced it in the crook of the two other branches to craft a makeshift spit of sorts. As I was cooking it, my stomach growling impatiently, I glanced up at the sky to see it turning orange-hued with the sunset.

My stomach lurched with foreboding. This time, I knew what dangers came during the nighttime. If I wasn't prepared, I would be slaughtered in my sleep. I had to find shelter, and quick. I briefly considered climbing up into another tree for the night, but I still wasn't completely confident that would last long. Those sharp nails the zombies possessed could just as easily be used to climb trees, and even though I never saw them attempt it, the possibility alone was enough to frighten me off. But what other options did I have?

That reminded me... I had traveled all this way, and yet I still haven't seen signs of civilization yet. I wasn't too concerned on that matter, though, as I was sure that once I got out of the forest there would be more likely odds I'd find human settlements.

Pushing all anxiety and doubts aside, my chicken appeared ready for consumption. Tearing it off the stick, I held back the impulse to sink my teeth into it as I pierced the other raw chicken with the branch, and placed it over the flames to be cooked as well. Finally, as I watched the flames lick at the underside of the uncooked corpse, I returned my attention to the first hunk of meat and wasted no time to bite into the crisp flesh.

It probably was just due to my starved stomach and lack of memory of any other appealing food, but it was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted. As I hadn't eaten anything filling for over a day, I managed to devour the entire chicken within minutes. Once the second chicken was done being cooked, I sliced it up with my dagger into smaller pieces so I could fit the extra meat into my jean pockets.

Now that my energy was refilled, it was time to move.

* * *

It wasn't long before I reached the boundary of the forest. The landscape past the woods was far different- almost barren of trees, instead being a grassy landscape with rolling hills. On the horizon, I saw the faint outline of a jagged mountain range that seemed to go on in all directions. Unfortunately, if I planned on proceeding with my continuous travel, I would have to scale the mountains.

Not like I planned to walk there immediately- my leg was starting to act up again and it was protesting violently against any further trekking. For now, I would have to find shelter... but where?

The sky had long since turned gray and cloudy with what looked like an incoming storm, but the dim lighting of the landscape indicated the little time left before night fell. I would have to locate somewhere where the monsters couldn't get to me... and yet my options were quite limited in that respect.

It was then that, while surveying my surroundings for a suitable spot, I spotted a distant shape, standing motionless beside the forest.

It was too large to be any sort of creature, and it was completely unmoving. And from the rather rectangular shape, it had to be... a _building_ of some sort? Excitement rose up inside me. Could I have finally found what I was looking for? Hastily, I headed in its general direction, too eager to pay any attention to the droplets of rain starting to fall.

As I got closer, I realized what it was. It was a small, run-down wooden shed, looking almost hand-built by the vaguely crude way the supports were organized. Just from glancing at it, I could see that was incredibly worn, with some of the boards on the top falling apart and a faint, musty smell of rotting wood. Either it was old, abandoned, or both. Still not wanting to let go of my hope, I silently begged that it was simply the second option.

The door was, apparently, meant to be locked- however, from the sorry state of the whole structure, it only took a good, strong _kick_ to knock it open, kicking up a cloud of dust as it slammed into the wall and almost off its hinges. I shielded myself from the increasingly heavy downpour of rain, as I hesitantly took a step inside the pitch-black room.

The smell was even worse in here- a sickly stench of wood decay tainted the previously fresh air. The thick layer of dust coated everything like filthy, gray snow _(that's funny, I think it resembles snow but I don't even remember seeing snow...)_. What little was in the shed wasn't especially interesting- there were stacks of evenly cut wooden planks and sectioned logs, but even they seemed to secrete the horrid musty odor, meaning that they, too, had been lying here for a long time.

Apparently, this was a storage shed designed to store wood. But who does this shed belong to? Buildings don't just appear out of nowhere, unless they were built. And the only creatures I knew of who built were _humans_.

Hope soared in my chest. I was finally getting somewhere closer to my goal. Even if this structure clearly hadn't been used for months, years even, the fact that it was _there_ was enough evidence on its own.

But as I realized how dark and rainy it looked outside, I realized that this shed would make a rather good shelter for the night. I was fairly certain the zombies wouldn't investigate if they didn't know I was inside, and how the heck would they know that?

Carefully, I closed the door so that it was completely shut, although I could still see cracks of light filtering in from the edges. A small hole in the roof let the rain drip in, so when I searched for a good spot to lie down on, I scooted as far away from the forming puddle as possible.

I cleared away as much as the dust and filth as possible, but it didn't make the musty corner I curled up in any more comfortable. The floor was cold and hard, even worse than the firm forest floor from the night before. And I didn't believe that could be possible.

Still, even the discomfort of sleeping and the gnawing fear of danger from the outside could do nothing to quell the elation I was feeling. I had made the _first step_ in my quest for meaning.

There were other humans out there.

And I promised myself... that I _would_ find them.


	4. I llusions

**Sorry for the late update! I'll be extending the updates to once or twice a week, preferably on Saturdays. It'll give me more time, and give more time for reviews as well :D  
**

**And I'm terribly sorry about the shortness of this chapter, as well :C I couldn't think of any satisfactory way to end it off, so I ended it earlier than it was going to be...  
**

**(By the way, the character in this story is a guy, and he will not be given a name. I was unclear about that before, so I'll just say it to clear up any confusion. Also, I don't know his age that well either, but I think that he's in his early to mid 20s... I don't really care about ages of characters in my stories that much.)  
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* * *

**CHAPTER 4**

_._

_._

_Everything was dark. And cold._

_._

_In addition, silent. I would believe that there would be some noise, even some distant ambiance, but it was as silent as death._

_._

_I heard a faint whirring noise, and for a reason I didn't know, fear convulsed my throat. Without hesitation, I gave a start, as though to flee; but my legs wouldn't move. And I wanted to. I didn't know what it was, but I wanted to run faster than I ever had in my life._

_._

_._

_The whirring was getting louder, turning into grating screeches._

_._

_._

_._

_(No no no no I'm going to die)_

_._

_._

_._

_._

_This wasn't supposed to-_

_._

_._

_._

_._

_A blinding flash of light filled my vision-_

_._

_._

_And I heard a strangled scream._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_It was mine._

* * *

I woke with a start, covered in a cold sweat. Nothing but the musty air of the wood shed was there to greet me. My breath was coming in short gasps for a full moment before my muddled thoughts recollected themselves. I had another nightmare... but what made me so frightened of it? Even as I thought of it, the memory of it became hazy and started to slip away.

Pulling myself upright, I retracted my legs up to my chest and just sat there, shivering. It took me a few minutes to realize that soft daylight was streaming in from outside, and that I shouldn't be hyperventilating over a frigid nightmare where I couldn't even remember what scared me so much. I gulped in deep breaths, trying to calm myself, and telling myself that it was just a dream, and nothing was going to hurt me.

_I hope..._

Forcibly removing the traumatizing, paranoid thoughts from my brain, I unsteadily lifted myself to my feet. Even with my healing leg protesting at the movement as usual, my legs didn't seem to want to hold my weight. I would force them too, if necessary. I had to be on the move, and quick.

As I looked around the dark shed one last time, I took in details which I never noticed before. The little ragged hole in the ceiling, which was my only indicator for the time of day, was dripping a little water into a large puddle every so often- however, the rain from last night appeared to have passed. The wood logs appeared to be from those dark brown _(oak)_ trees, but a little pile in the corner was composed of the silvery _(birch)_ trees. I didn't even know why I was suddenly noticing these little details, many of which I glanced at but barely payed attention to before. I think it was because I felt like the wooden shed was almost like a safehouse- somewhere I could sleep throughout the night and not be afraid of getting eaten alive by monsters.

Suddenly, something caught my eye in the corner, nestled behind a bulk of logs. As I carefully stepped towards it, I realized that I saw it earlier... but I didn't pay much attention to it, as I thought it was an indistinguishable, dusty brown lump among all the wood. But now...

I brushed the dust off of the shape with one hand, and I distantly noticed that the object was made of leather. But that was nothing compared to what I discovered underneath the gray film that had developed over it. It was a backpack _(once again, how did I know that?)_, and a pretty large one at that. It looked hand-sewn, with seams clearly visible with the many pockets that were woven into the sides. Mystified, I slowly picked it up from the ground, and I could feel a sudden weight on the inside. I reached into the main compartment, fumbled around a bit, and pulled out... a tool belt? Without the tools, of course.

I had unconsciously reached into my jean pockets to retrieve the chicken I had stored there earlier. Perhaps I could move it into this bag, which clearly had more space to store more food if needed. In addition, that tool belt (despite being a bit too large) looked as though it could hold my wooden dagger in a very versatile position. I doubted the owner of this shed would mind if I kept the items, if they've left it abandoned for so long.

As I lifted the backpack and awkwardly adjusted the straps over my shoulders, I sharply glanced at the dustless spot that had been left where the backpack just was. Right on the floor was a tiny, yellowish, crumpled slip of paper. Curiously, I picked it up, and also noticed that it had writing on it. Handwritten, somewhat sloppy writing, as though with an ink pen. It took a split second for my brain to organize the symbols into written language which I could understand:

_REMINDER TO SELF_

_Obtain more firewood. My fireplace keep going out and I'm not sure what's causing it._

_- N.C._

I stared, almost uncomprehending from both excitement and a vague confusion. This was the final scrap of evidence to confirm my pseudo-ultimate question: were there any humans out here besides me? But who was this "N.C."? That could stand for nearly anything, and it was a very vague title. In the very least, I had a name to look for now.

Mentally, I stuffed the slip of paper into my pocket, and added another note to my list of objectives- locate "N.C."

Standing up and stretching, with the tool belt and backpack in tow, I walked over to the worn door and opened it with a loud _creak. _Daylight flooded the room, and I winced somewhat at the sudden brightness. After my eyes adjusted, I nervously did a check around the immediate area of the shed. Thankfully, no zombies appeared to be stalking in the shadows, and I breathed a sigh of relief and tentatively stepped outside the structure.

I certainly had expected zombies, but I didn't expect what I saw next, as I absentmindedly looked up into one of the nearby trees and went rigid with horror.

A gigantic, hairy black spider- practically as wide as most of my body- lightly clung to one of the branches and was staring intently at me with eight blood-red eyes. Glimmering spider silk threads were stretched across the trees in what looked like a spider web, early in construction. But just the look it was giving me, along with the huge fanged mandibles, and overall huge size, was enough to scare me witless.

I stood there petrified for a few moments, before I realized that the massive arachnid had not made a move towards me yet. Cautiously, I took a step backward. It continued to watch me, but it didn't move. I sincerely hoped it wasn't going to lunge at me once I had my back turned. Mentally, I told myself spiders weren't meant to be that large, but another half of my brain seemed to accept it, like it was something to be expected. _How can it be something to be expected? Am I forgetting something?_

Yes, I was forgetting something- practically all of my memory, in fact. And I knew what spiders were, and had a lingering hunch that some kinds of spiders were poisonous- and due to that, I did _not _want to provoke this one. I backed up some more, a little faster this time. Still, the spider did not move. I found this strange- was it just being passive because I wasn't acting like a threat, or because of another reason?

Either way, I continued to retreat nervously until I was a good distance away, and then I turned around and began walking at a brisk pace through the field. Absolutely perfect- now, besides zombies, I had another freak of nature to look out for.

And I felt like something was watching me again. And it wasn't the spider. But I convinced myself that it was simply my recently aroused paranoia acting up again.

* * *

I bit hard into a scrap of chicken meat I had stored the night before. It had gone cold, and no longer had the pleasantly warm and crisp taste, but I was hungry so I put the taste aside. Unfortunately, I had gone a fairly long time without drinking, so I would have to locate a source of water soon.

Luckily, there appeared to be a river flowing down from a valley in the mountains up ahead. The relatively flat plain allowed an unobstructed view of the scenery ahead. As I didn't see anything of interest in the plains, or anything vaguely resembling a human dwelling, I supposed that I would have to cross the mountains to continue my journey. I couldn't say I was looking forward to it- despite my continuous trekking for the past two days toughening my endurance, the steep purple-tinged ridges didn't look forgiving. I wondered what it would look like once I actually got to the base, instead of gazing upon it from afar.

Eventually, I reached the riverbank. It was too small to actually be called a river- more like a stream, and the flowing water appeared crystal-clear and cold. I sat in a cross-legged position on the sandy edge of the stream, cupping water in my hands and drinking it up like a dog _(I know the term, but what's a dog?)_. I also splashed it over my sweaty face, simultaneously trying to wash myself and cool myself down in the heat of the sun. The storm from last night was almost nonexistent, and once again there were hardly any clouds in sight and the harsh rays of the sun resumed to beat down. I also took off my shirt to wash the filth out, although it didn't do much. Similarly, the stream did little to clean the old blood out of my tattered jeans. Again, I distantly reminded myself I would need to replace my clothing eventually.

A couple minutes later, I was done with my drinking and inefficient bath. I was prepared to get to my feet and continue walking towards the mountains. I guess it was due to my urgency at finding the other humans, but my usually sharp hearing failed to pick up the soft footsteps coming at me from behind...


	5. W hispers

**Reaaaally late update, I know. This long, fluffy chapter should make up for it, though. Sometimes I wonder why this is rated T, then I'm like, "Oh, wait, the later parts of the story!"  
**

**Also, I hope you enjoy my realistic interpretation of a creeper.  
**

* * *

**CHAPTER 5**

_Baaa..._

The soft bleat and the nudge against my side and made me jump. Startled, I whipped around, causing whatever poked me to flinch due to my sudden movement. Instinctively, my hand flew to the hilt of my dagger before my brain caught up with my impulses. Breathing heavily and trying to fight off the sudden rush of adrenaline, I focused my attention on the bemused and cowering creature.

What was before me was neither a zombie, spider, or any potential threat that I already knew of. It was a scrawny, quadruped creature with thin hoofed feet and a protruded snout. Its tiny ears were sticking to the side, slightly tilting backwards- whether that was natural or due to fear, I couldn't know. The most notable thing about it was that its brown skin was covered in a pale, almost white fur- _no, not fur, wool, where did that come from?_- that clung to its thin frame yet thinned out to nakedness around the face and feet. It was incredibly small- it barely reached past my knees, and both the animal and I were standing upright.

_Sheep,_ my brain recognized. I released the breath I had been unconsciously holding, recalling that these creatures, like all the other animals I had seen, were peaceful. My paranoia made me quite edgy at being sneaked up from behind.

And yet something was still off. I also had a faint, lingering shred of memory which seemed to indicate that sheep were fairly large. And yet this one was miniscule, and seemed to have smaller and shorter limbs as well. That must mean... it's sheep offspring. A _lamb._

But for a lamb to exist, there must have been adult sheep which birthed it. Its parents. So why was it alone? I looked around the tall grass of the plains, but there didn't even seem to be a nearby herd...

The lamb bleated feebly and hesitantly began stepping towards me again.

At first, I didn't know how to react. I had no lingering feeling backing me up this time- I could only stare at it blankly as it began nuzzling my leg. So, it lost its parents. And the way it was acting I could only describe as... trusting? No, the more appropriate term was _affectionate._

As sudden as that term came to mind, I knew the proper way to respond. Slowly, I lowered myself to eye level with the lamb, so I was crouching. I reached out hesitantly, and, seeing as the sheep flinched but made no move to back away, I began scratching it behind the ears. Its taut body gradually relaxed, and it went cross-eyed with content. Its wool was incredibly soft, I distantly noticed... but that was nothing compared to the warm swelling that rose in my chest, like a gaping abyss had been filled. It didn't make much sense, but I embraced it. It was pleasant, and this brief social interaction seemed to be satiating the socially hungry part of my brain. Even if it were just an animal.

It was then that the lamb seemed to notice the stream behind me, and it gave a weak cry as it suddenly pulled away from my touch and stumbled towards it. As it almost feverishly began lapping up the cold water, I noticed for the first time its emaciated frame, ribs jutting out from its chest and the trembling legs. Concerned, I started to wonder how long it had been orphaned.

Speaking of orphaned, I couldn't remember my _own _parents. If I had any. That was a silly doubt, though- everyone had parents at one point in their life, otherwise they wouldn't have been born. However, whether my parents were alive or dead at the moment was anyone's guess. The warmth in my chest dissipated as I remembered my goal at hand with a small frown. I had to keep moving. Otherwise, I would be far from finding any other humans.

Once again, I rose to my feet and walked through the shallow stream to the other side. I was glad my leathery boots were waterproof- otherwise, my bare feet would end up chilled, wet, and very uncomfortable. The mountains were not far off- but there seemed to be another forest up ahead, covering the base of the jagged mountains with a lush, dark green. Was that snow at the top?

My thoughts were interrupted by another feeble bleat behind me. I turned around, and there was the lamb- shivering from the cold water it had just passed through to get to me, but staring up at me intently. I had wondered what would become of the young animal, but I pushed it out of my thoughts since I had believed that it wasn't something I should be concerned about. Now, I felt guilty about that notion... but I had to test something first. Experimentally, I took a few steps forward. The lamb followed me. Now I went backward. It hastily retreated.

Well, that decided it. Apparently, the animal now saw me as its surrogate parent, and would follow me wherever I went. My mind was conflicted on this realization- one part of me was emotionally and socially starved, and was very appreciative of the lamb's company. Another part of me was distraught at now having to take responsibility for this creature, who added another mouth to feed. And finally, a small part of me was furious at this liability in my journey. Needless to say, I was rather guilty about that last part.

Shrugging it off, I decided that I couldn't do anything about it, even if I tried. After a split second's hesitation, I resumed walking through the field, with the lamb following.

* * *

The sheep bleated indignantly, for about the fifth time. Unable to stand it much longer, I whipped around and gave him (after careful inspection, I deemed the creature a male) a sharp glare, that I hoped managed to get the point across that I did _not_ have any food with me right now. He seemed to get the message and cowered submissively.

I had been traveling for about an hour and a half. We had now reached the forest at the base of the mountains, and the terrain was starting to go uphill. The trees were tall and dark, with needle-like leaves. _Pine trees, _I recognized.

I finished the last of the chicken moments previously, and it barely did anything to fill my grumbling stomach. And the lamb appeared far hungrier than I was- expected, if he had gone without eating for days. The problem was, I didn't know exactly _what _to feed the lamb. He didn't seem old enough to graze on the tall grass, like I knew other sheep did _(knew? How do I know? I don't know anything)._ Or maybe he could, and the grass here was inedible- unlikely, but possible. The most likely possibility was that he couldn't eat solid food, and was feeding on his mother's milk before he became an orphan- which made the situation absolutely hopeless. I had no milk, nor would I find milk. So what could I feed him? And what could I eat myself, as well?

Thankfully, I got my answer a few moments later. When the erratic footsteps of the lamb's hooves suddenly ceased, I turned around to see him licking the grass like some sort of depraved- oh, hold on, he _was _an animal. My mistake. At first I thought he was just licking it out of desperation, until I looked closer and saw little green specks scattered among the bases of the grass stalks.

My eyes widened as the term clicked. _Seeds._

Not hesitating, I got to my knees and began scooping up as many of them as possible. I didn't know if they were edible, for me or for the lamb, but it was far more ideal than starving to death. Soon, I had a complete handful of the little green seeds- they were so tiny, they were almost like a powder. I crawled over to the scrawny lamb and reached out with my open palm. He looked at me quizzically for a second, before lunging and voraciously chomping the seeds right out of my hand. I found myself giving a small smile of satisfaction. At least I had solved the food problem for my companion. Now, me, on the other hand...

Hopeful, I took a pinch of seeds for myself and tried to eat them, but I spat them right out afterward. They tasted hard and bitter- and even though I managed to choke a few down, it did nothing to fill my appetite. I let out a sigh. The sun was setting... perhaps I would have to settle with being hungry until morning. It wouldn't be the first time.

I'm not sure when I first noticed the deceptively soft, crunchy footsteps approaching me from behind. All I knew was that, by the time the lamb had released a frightened bleat of surprise and I heard a dry hissing noise, my dagger was already out of my pocket and I had dove in the other direction.

I only had a split second to catch a glimpse of the mottled green creature before it swelled up, hissing, and _exploded._ _(What kind of creature exploded?!)_ The impact threw me back several meters, knocking me to the ground, and I smelled the horrid mixture of sulfur and living flesh. The shock of the explosion left me in a daze, and it was all I could manage to pull myself to my feet and witness the blackened crater that the _thing_ had left behind, along with the grotesque shreds which were all that remained of the creature.

And it hadn't been alone. Another one soon emerged from behind a particularly thick pine tree.

I had never seen a creature like it before. Perhaps that was because of its inexplicable _strangeness._ It was a large, upright, mottled green creature with darker patches scattered along the sallow skin. It had a vaguely humanoid torso, with visible ribs jutting out, but it lacked arms and instead had four, awkwardly positioned hoofed feet protruding from the base. The most disturbing feature, however, was the face. What stared at me was a melted, gaping face that appeared locked in an endless scream. Its soulless eyes were bottomless black pits, and its open mouth let out a hiss of steam.

And, surprisingly fast for its awkward leg position, it was coming straight at me.

The lamb bleated in alarm and dove behind a tree. I however, had other plans. Grasping my dagger firmly, I rushed in for the attack on the monster.

Luckily for me, this monster seemed to rely a lot on surprise and ambush for its method of attack, which it now lacked. It hissed up and swelled as I approached, but I was too fast for it. I wouldn't fall for the exploding trick again. I stabbed the dagger through the creature's throat with a spray of its green blood, listening with satisfaction as its hiss spluttered into a gurgle. A red-tinted mist seemed to fill my vision, and I became disturbingly focused- everything was out of my brain except the notion to _kill_. I twisted the weapon, tore it out, and stabbed it multiple times in vulnerable areas that I knew with almost scary precision. Finally, I physically smashed the corpse to the ground, the green fluid leaking from several stab wounds.

Breathing heavily, the adrenaline and focus seemed to slowly ebb out of my body as I stared down at the body. Apprehensive that it might explode while dead, I prodded it with my foot. Definitely dead.

The lamb still wouldn't get out from behind the tree, despite my coaxing and reassurance that it was safe. Well, he was an animal, after all... he didn't understand what I was saying.

What kind of creature _was_ this thing? Realizing that it was now safe to get close to it, I sat down besides it and got out my already-stained dagger. I touched its flesh with my bare hands, and it felt somewhat rough and crunchy upon closer inspection- like dead leaves, or grass. I was bemused. It definitely was nothing I had ever seen before. Something about it screamed _unnatural_... but I couldn't determine what.

My stomach rumbled again, and I noticed the sky was a delicate shade of orange. I still had to find something to eat...

I looked from the monster carcass, back to me, then back to the perfectly fresh carcass. Then to the setting sun, then to my blood-stained dagger, then to a pile of dry wood scraps nearby.

Sometimes I sincerely wish I hadn't made that decision. But hey, when you've got to eat, you've got to eat.

* * *

I bit into the undercooked monster flesh, ignoring the horridly sour taste. I had taken the green monster's corpse, roasted it over a fire, and was now eating it. Yes, _eating_ it. I was absolutely starving, and I promised myself that I would never act so desperate again. I could only manage a few mouthfuls of the disgusting creature before I felt queasy and stopped. The last thing I wanted to do was end up vomiting. I had come dangerously close to retching up the contents of my stomach while I was gutting the body- it had some _bizarre_ anatomy, including a sac-like organ that contained a stony gray powder. I had a suspicion that it was this powder that made it explode, so I immediately tossed the organ as far away as possible from the fire.

The lamb had finally stepped out from behind the tree, but that wasn't to say he wasn't terrified from the whole ordeal. He was currently curled up into my side, trembling despite the warm fireplace nearby. I, too, was shivering slightly- the night air was abnormally chilly. Perhaps from the rising altitude- I was starting to enter the mountainous region, after all. My ripped clothing did little to insulate my body heat.

That reminded me- it had gone dark nearly half an hour ago. I remained vigilant at all times, but so far no monsters had come out from between the trees. Still, I remembered the haunting first night, and I refused to sleep anywhere near the ground. Tense with fear, I rose to my feet and scanned my surroundings for any tree that might have a low branch I could climb on. Soon, I spotted a particularly large pine tree which fit my description.

As I got a foothold on the trunk and started to pull myself up to a high branch, I heard a pleading _baaaa_ below me. Glancing down, I saw the lamb at the base of the tree, looking up at me expectantly. I didn't know whether monsters were hungry for sheep meat, but one thing was for sure- I could _not_ leave the lamb down there with a good conscience.

Sighing, I slid back down the smooth bark and bent over the young animal. After a moment's hesitation, I reached out and wrapped both hands underneath his stomach. The sheep bleated in alarm and attempted to wriggle free, but I scratched him behind the ears to indicate that I wasn't about to hurt him. After he calmed down, I managed to pick him up and pin him to my side with one arm- it was almost incredible how light he was.

Although it took some extra effort, I somehow managed to climb back up the tree with only one free arm. Positioning myself in a crook of a high branch- even more uncomfortable than the last time I was up in a tree- I settled the lamb on my lap. Seeing the great height, the animal made no move to move elsewhere and instead folded his legs and lay down in my lap. Within moments, the quiet snoring indicated that the creature was asleep.

It was a very discomforting position, with my legs awkwardly braced over the sides of the branch, and the warm weight of the lamb pinning me down. Still, the knowledge that I was relatively safe comforted me. Unless there were any more of those giant spiders around. I still didn't know if they were hostile, but I did not want to awaken to see one of them staring into my face...

Absentmindedly, I rested one hand on the sleeping lamb and used the other to draw my wooden dagger. I examined the blade- the edge was no longer as sharp, and it was blood-stained and filthy. Seems like I would have to replace it soon, if I wanted a good way to defend myself.

And the lamb... I had no clue why, but I felt like I had an emotional attachment to him. I almost wanted to give him a name, and I would have done so already if my mind wasn't blank of any name-like terms. Still, if I passed by a herd of sheep when I resumed my traveling, I would drop the orphan off and continue without a liability. I took in a deep breath and exhaled. Yes, that was what I would do. But why did it feel like I was lying to myself?

I let my eyelids slide shut as I leaned back against the tree trunk. Tomorrow, I would have to continue searching for this "N.C." I still didn't know who he, or she, was, but I knew they had to be human. And if I could find them, I could possibly find out who I am. I needed to get my priorities straight.

That night was the first night since I'd woken up that I slept without a single nightmare.


	6. A lmost there

**Ugggh. I'm starting to realize how slow this story is to getting to the more exciting parts... believe me, they're coming, but for now it's still a gradual survival story. This chapter WAS going to be even longer, but then I realized I didn't have a satisfactory way to end it off without going much, MUCH longer :I  
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**Hope you guys enjoy it.  
**

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**CHAPTER 6**

I awoke to an untraceable dizziness in my head, and a vague feeling of nausea. That, coupled with my groggy morning exhaustion, wasn't pleasant. The monster meat from the night before must have greatly upset my digestive system- another reason to never eat it again. But for the time being, I had to deal with it.

I leaned back against the dark wood of the tree trunk, taking a deep breath and exhaling. I needed to wait a few moments for the dizziness to ease. The lamb was still fast asleep on my lap- a warm, comforting mass which was a sharp contrast to the chilled air. I let my gaze slide over to the sun breaching the horizon, and beneath me, the vast plains that I had traversed the previous day. It was very early morning- I had plenty of time to continue crossing the mountains. But, judging from what I had seen and experienced so far, the higher I climbed, the colder it would get. And it didn't help that I lacked proper insulation, and neither did my emaciated sheep companion.

I reached up and stretched, trying to rouse my cold, stiff limbs. Tree branches never make comfortable beds. My sudden movement awoke the lamb, who gave a weak bleat in protest and squirmed a little. I quickly placed a hand on his back to prevent him from falling down to the ground below. Speaking of which, was it safe to climb down...?

I glanced downwards to the dull, grassy slope below. Not a single zombie, giant spider, or one of those mutated green monsters. Just to be sure, I tensely waited a few more moments. Nothing. And since the sun had risen, any zombies would have combusted and burned to ashes. I was safe... for now.

Cautiously, I once again picked up the lamb with one arm and held him to my side. He seemed less resistant now- perhaps he was starting to trust me. I dug my nails into the bark as I clumsily slid down to lower branches, and finally I braced myself and jumped to the ground below with a soft _crunch._

Once again alert, I scanned the surroundings yet found no threats. Still, I kept one hand on my wooden dagger. I had that unnerving watched feeling again... and this time, I was positive it wasn't my imagination. Not dropping my guard, I placed the lamb on the ground. The animal seemed to share my unease, as he gave a nervous bleat and stayed close to my side. Hoping to calm him down, I scooped up a small handful of seeds and gave them to him. Watching him chomp them down so readily made me feel hungry myself. Food, however, would have to come later.

I had to move... I was getting a bad feeling about this place.

* * *

For the next hour, I walked at a steady pace up the mountainside. As if walking uphill wasn't tiring enough, the slope was getting steeper and steeper as I went on. And the air remained cold, even though the sun was bright and shining down. I could see my breath in the form of a pale mist. I found myself shivering involuntarily, and the lamb was not much better off- he let out a weak _baa_ and nuzzled into my ripped jeans. For what seemed like the hundredth time, I reminded myself to find new clothing.

And the watched sensation hadn't disappeared. I kept sharply glancing over my shoulder, expecting to see something, but I didn't. I vigilantly kept my hand on my dagger, just in case.

Eventually, I reached an obstacle which I could not avoid. A steep cliff of gray stone stretched out in front of me, too tall and too vertical to climb without much difficulty. I had encountered streams (which I was very happy to drink from), boulders, and smaller slopes, but the difference was this one couldn't be traversed. It didn't make much difference that the obstacle was there, anyway- I was too tired to continue on without some rest. Taking deep breaths, I sat down on the nearest boulder while trying to ignore the throbbing ache in my legs and the pangs of hunger in my stomach. The lamb collapsed on the ground beside me, panting heavily. I distantly wondered why he was still following me- if he had an ounce of wits, he would figure out by now that following a socially-deprived human who was just barely surviving on their own was _not_ a good idea. It was amazing, really, how stupidly faithful animals could act.

On the topic of animals, through the thick pine trees I had occasionally heard the footsteps of a four-legged creature, or a distant howling or yelping. It nearly scared the daylights out of me, considering my increased paranoia from that chilling watched feeling. My brain immediately identified it as some sort of animal, but I couldn't deduce more than that. Perhaps if I were to seek it out, I would be able to remember its name by appearance... but I didn't know if it were hostile or not. To play it safe, I chose not to pursue the strange noises. Although, interestingly, the lamb reacted very negatively to the howling. He would tense up, freeze, and stare wide-eyed in the direction it was coming from. I vaguely wondered if there was a connection, but I decided to ignore it for now.

As I let my thoughts wander, I gradually noticed the hunks and scraps of rocks near the bottom of the slope- apparently debris from erosion, or if a creature attempted to climb up it. The most notable piece was a long, thin slab of stone near my feet. Experimentally, I picked it up and struck it against the boulder I was sitting on. It gave a satisfactory scraping noise, and the edge was worn off, sharpening the edge. I attempted it again, and then I noticed the uncanny resemblance of the stone to a weapon.

It looks like I found something to replace my blunted wooden dagger.

An undefined amount of time later, I had fashioned a makeshift sword out of the hunk of stone. I also managed to give it a hilt by taking a thick, Y-shaped stick and cleverly tying it to the blade with some particularly resilient blades of grass. After sharpening it a fairly long time, I confirmed its sharpness by slashing it into the side of a tree. It was embedded so deep that it took a few tugs to yank it out. The downside was that it was rather heavy and clumsy, but it seemed much more powerful and durable than the dagger.

I mentally debated whether or not to throw my dagger out, but then I realized it would be quite good for gutting animal corpses and cutting up food, so I decided against it.

I had already decided that since I couldn't get past the cliff side, I would walk along it until I found a slightly less steep passageway to follow. In the meantime, I would have to search for food and perhaps camp out. I decided that I would look for edible animals _alone,_ since I wasn't sure how the lamb would react to watching me mercilessly slaughter innocent creatures like himself.

The problem was, I didn't know how to make the lamb _stay._ He wasn't like a dog _(that term again, I still don't know what a dog is)_, he was a wild animal, and I was positive that he wouldn't understand or obey human speech. I actually tried to talk to him, perhaps to just _try_ to get it through his head that I wanted him to stay by the cliff, when I discovered something.

I couldn't speak.

Well, I guess _couldn't_ isn't the right term. More like, I was having major _difficulty_ speaking. Although I remembered _how_ to speak, I couldn't make much more than a harsh gurgling noise at the back of my throat. After many repeated tries, I did manage make some sounds that almost sounded like words, but they were rasped and distorted to the point of being unrecognizable.

Trying to swallow my panic, I reasoned with myself that the most likely reason for the lack of speech was the fact I hadn't used my voice at _all._ Nor did I have a reason to- since I woke up in the forest, I had not met a single human, nor had I had any logical reason to speak up. If I practiced speaking a bit more often, then my voice would adjust to being used and wouldn't be so weak and raspy. Hopefully.

Since verbal commands were out of the question (not like they would work much anyway), I resorted to body language- which was equally ineffective. The lamb would simply tilt his head and give a confused bleat whenever I did sharp gestures at him and the ground. Eventually, I became so frustrated that I walked up to a pine tree and hit my head _very _hard against the trunk. It appeared that I would have to bring the lamb along with me after all.

At first, everything was going smoothly. I searched among the trees without wandering too far from the cliff, and the sheep was staying close behind me (although, he did stop every once and a while to scavenge the seeds in the undergrowth). While traveling up the mountain, I did see some wild chickens and other animals far off, and I regretted not going after them when I had the chance. Now, I didn't see a single animal in sight, and my stomach continued to complain.

Then, I noticed an unusually shaded portion of the forest. I briefly wondered why that would be- the pine trees didn't have particularly thick branches or canopies, allowing plenty of sun to filter through (not like that affected the cold much). However, as I trotted over to the shaded area and looked up, my stomach gave a lurch as my questions were answered.

Thick, white, tangled silk stretched in wide cobwebs between the trees, blotting out the sun. They clung securely to the trunks and branches, forming a huge spiderweb. And directly in the center, staring straight at me, was another giant spider. This one was even bigger than the one before, but that wasn't the reason I went rigid with fear. It was the eyes. Instead of a blank curiosity, like the one I had seen before, it was an indifferent hostility.

The lamb, struggling to follow me, accidentally snapped a twig.

The spider lunged.

The split second after that was a blur. The spider had pinpoint accuracy, and there was absolutely no way it could miss- it was huge and right above me. Perhaps I had very good reaction time, as I had drawn my stone sword by then. However, I didn't have any time to swing. It immediately knocked me over, the disgustingly hairy legs getting into my face. Unable to do anything, I braced myself for the fangs to plunge into my throat... except nothing of the sort happened. I also didn't initially comprehend why the spider had frozen up, nor why I felt a warm, sticky liquid flowing down my hands. I shifted my gaze from the spider's red eyes to the sword in my hands.

The spider, in the process of pinning me down, had impaled itself on the sword- precisely where the abdomen and head connected. And now the arachnid's milky body fluid was oozing profusely down the blade and on my hands. Apparently, despite their fearsome appearance and their speed, spiders weren't the brightest bunch- the spider, still alive, was feebly trying to reach for my neck, fangs outstretched.

Barely breathing, I twisted around to roll the spider's twitching body off of me. After sawing through the arachnid's head with the sword for good measure, I cleaned my hands off on my jeans and returned my attention to the cobwebs above me. There didn't appear to be any more spiders, thankfully- one was enough to deal with.

The lamb had once again freaked out and hid behind a tree, and knowing how long it would take to coax him out, I didn't even try. Instead, I paced around, examining the spider's carefully-constructed web. There were thicker bundles of webbing that I could only assume were the spider's prey that it had caught. The size of these bundles greatly disturbed me- most of them were around my size, more or less. That could only mean that the spider had been successfully trapping animals long before I came along. I gave an involuntary shiver as I wondered if I would have ended up in the same position, if the spider didn't unwittingly kill itself...

But if the spider had caught and bundled up animals for later, did that mean they were still edible?

A disgusting concept, but at least it seemed more appealing than eating the spider itself (I absolutely refused for any monster meat to come close to my mouth again). Experimentally, I used my sword to slice apart a particularly large lump of cobweb. I recoiled violently as a large corpse crashed down, still trailing strands of webbing behind it. It almost resembled a sheep, being a quadruped and hoofed, but it was quite a bit larger and lacked any wool. It appeared to be a dark brown animal with gray splotches, and considering the stench, it had been dead for a long time- however, it was still quite preserved. _Cow,_ my memory recalled.

I then realized that my current location probably wouldn't be the ideal place to start a campfire. It would be preferable to return to the steep cliff side. Letting out a silent sigh, I reached down to the body, and with a grunt of effort, slung it over my shoulder. It was very heavy, although I supposed it could be worse- from the physical condition of the cow's corpse, I assumed it had been very plump, but had shrunk rapidly from either starvation or decomposition. At least it was bearable to carry for short distances.

The lamb, seeing me walk back uphill, hesitantly began to follow me again. Apparently he was beginning to deal with his own fear.

Speaking of fear, I was consciously trying to ignore the reawakened feeling of being watched. It had gotten much stronger during the spider attack... but I refused to think about it. I had better things to focus on.

* * *

I made a fire and was cooking the partially-rotten cow corpse, relishing the warmth the flames gave off in the cold weather. The sun was starting to set. I still hadn't figured out how to get past the ridiculously steep slope, so I was trying to decide whether I should attempt to make a shelter or sleep in another tree for the night. So far, the tree proved to be a fail-safe method, although it wasn't exactly comfortable. In addition, it was fairly difficult to carry the lamb up the tree with me, and even more difficult to get back down.

But the downside of a shelter was that I didn't know how to construct one, nor did I even know if it would hold the monsters at bay. I had a faint suspicion that light seemed to hold the hostile creatures back- that might explain why I didn't see any around the last night, as my previous campfire was still burning. But my first night proved that it didn't hold them off for long, so it seemed like sleeping in a tree was, again, the only option.

I let my thoughts wander in circles like this for a while, munching on the cow's crispy meat while stroking the lamb's soft wool as he nuzzled up beside me.

I wasn't sure when I first noticed the _something_ in the side of the slope.

Perhaps, as I let my gaze wander along with my thoughts, I suddenly spotted a distant spot of the gray cliff side that was much, _much_ darker than everything around it. And it had something pale and wooden framing it, as well...

The lamb gave an alarmed cry as I staggered to my feet. I didn't care, though, as I strode off at a brisk pace towards the darkness to investigate. Something about it screamed _artificial,_ and whatever was artificial had to be _man-made._

As I got closer to the entrance, I could see exactly what it was. It appeared to be a pitch-black tunnel dug in the side of the cliff, rectangular and very clearly artificial in its shape. Framing it were well-worn, wooden supports, roughly cut and embedded deeply into the stone. More supports went down the tunnel, and it was so dark that I didn't know where it ended. But what caught my attention the most was the wooden slab plastered on the front of the first wooden frame, with roughly-cut words engraved in it:

_N.C's Mineshaft_

_DANGEROUS – DO NOT ENTER_


	7. N owhere

**My lack of motivation for this chapter resulted in a very late update. Though, I hope you're happy, because this chapter is a monster. A MONSTER. OVER 5,000 WORDS, which is like TWICE as long as I usually make a chapter ._.  
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**Don't expect chapters to be this long in the future. This chapter is only this long because I couldn't end it in a satisfactory way for a long time.  
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**I didn't proofread this chapter (I almost never proofread, actually *shot*), so if it seems too purple-prosey or you see grammar errors, let me know so I can fix them. I need to work on that anyway...  
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* * *

**CHAPTER 7**

I simply stood there, motionless, despite my quickened pulse betraying my excitement. Was this it? Was I getting even closer to my goal? I didn't pay any mind to the warning message, only the fact that it was written by a human and I was wonderfully, _wonderfully _close to finding them.

In my flurry of positive emotions, I almost didn't notice the corroded wooden box lying just past the entrance of the shaft, against the wall. Upon noticing, I immediately walked over to and threw open the lid. Within it was a small, handwritten book, some pieces of paper, and... _were those clothes?_

I gave a soundless cry of joy as I yanked the pale brown shirt out of the box. It appeared to be made of a thick, leathery material- perhaps animal hide. The blue pair of pants (due to having faded brown spots, I could only assume they were dyed) seemed to be made of the same material. But they, despite being somewhat dusty, were amazingly _clean_- a sharp contrast to the blood-stained, worn, and ripped clothing I was wearing now. I made no hesitation in undressing (ignoring the cold air stinging at my exposed flesh) and I pulled the shirt on. It seemed a little too big for me, but that wasn't the point. I did the same with the pants. They were comfortable, and warm.

I heard the lamb give a confused bleat behind me, as if he wasn't comprehending my sudden change in appearance. I found myself giving a thin smile. It was adorable, really, how stupid he was.

Deciding to sift through the other contents of the chest, I found more handwritten notes on the pieces of paper. Most of them seemed to be more self-reminders to "N.C", but some were slightly more... interesting, to say in the least. There was one in particular that stood out to me, perhaps because of how informative it was:

_I found this cave a couple weeks ago. It was before I decided to build my shelter, but I still entered it in case it was a shortcut. Unfortunately, despite it being rich with useful minerals, it's absolutely freezing in the winter. Since then, I've turned the cave into a mineshaft which I use almost daily. I put some extra clothing in a wooden chest near the entrance. Finally, I've made a rather crude handbook to record some of these new monsters I've found. It goes along well with my first monster handbook back at the shelter. You can never be too careful._

I frowned. From what he said, it seemed like he went to this mineshaft often... so why did everything look dusty and unused? Shaking off the uncomfortable feeling coming over me, I quickly redirected my thoughts elsewhere. So, a monster handbook... was that what the book was...? Curiously, I sat down on the stone floor of the mineshaft and flipped the old paper open, struggling to read it in the dim light. Vaguely, for a split second, I remembered that I was accustomed to bright, artificial light... but the clip of memory disappeared nearly instantly.

I was unexpectedly impressed by the neat handwriting and faded ink drawings that greeted me on the first page. I recognized the drawings of the rotting, dead-eyed humanoids very easily- however, in this illustration of them, they appeared to be wearing more advanced clothing than just rags. Searching for an explanation, I shifted my gaze to the description below.

_Armored Zombie_

_Relative Size:__ Humanoid, generally tend to be slightly shorter than 5'4 due to decaying of the bone structure. I've seen some occasional large and small ones, though._

_Battle Strategy:__ These ones gave me lots of trouble initially. Normal ones are pathetically easy to kill if you're armed- just go for the skull. Arrows and swords cleave through their brains like butter. Armored zombies, on the other hand, are not so easy. Try to find gaps in their armor and attack from there._

_Notes:__ I know I have an entry for zombies already in my first handbook, but I have never, NEVER seen an armored one until I entered this cavern. Apparently the radiation in the atmosphere affected more than just people wearing one layer...? I can't tell if it's entirely the radiation that created the undead, quite frankly... maybe something else is involved..._

Radiation? I quickly figured out that I knew the term, but the definition was foggy- all I knew is that it was very, very dangerous. He said that it was in the atmosphere, though... so, if that was true, how come I wasn't being affected? Or any of the animals, for that matter? I shoved aside my questions and turned to the next page.

It portrayed a sketchy picture of a mammalian creature- small, with beady eyes, pointed ears, and long bony fingers to form webbed wings of sorts. I didn't even need to look at the description to recognize it as a _bat, _but I did so anyway to see what the author had to say about them.

_Bat_

_Relative Size:__ Tiny. Their bodies are as big as the palm of my hand, and their wingspan is about the length of my forearm. In other words, their wingspan is about half of a meter._

_Notes:__ I've heard of these things before, but I've never actually seen one in person. Figures that they would be in a cave. They don't appear to be hostile at all. If anything, they're more scared of me than I am of them- they always freak out and fly away when I get close. I'm not too bothered by them, but their erratic squeaking can get a little... irritating._

Ah. So they weren't dangerous... that was good to know. Their somewhat unnerving appearance said the contrary, but apparently looks weren't everything. Still, those armored zombies had me worried...

I was about to turn to the next page, transfixed by the author's incredible knowledge, when the lamb nudged my side, giving a nervous _baa. _I turned to see what was the problem, and I saw it almost immediately- it was dangerously dim outside, with the sun starting to sink beneath the horizon and giving an eerie red glow against the trees. Night was almost upon me.

Mentally cursing, I ignored the new page I had opened and quickly shut the book. As I shoved it into the outer compartment of my backpack, I ran through the options in my head. I could always sleep in another tree, but the ones closest to me had no low branches I could use as footholds. So, it looks like I only had one place to go. Not that I was especially happy about it... but if this mineshaft truly did belong to N.C, that meant that it was very likely I would locate him by going through it.

Turning towards the darkness of the tunnel, I realized that I couldn't go anywhere if I couldn't see. Impulsively, I grabbed an unlit torch on the wall and twisted it out of the stone. Experimentally, I struck it hard against the rough rock, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that it burst into flames, chasing away the darkness. Apparently the black material- _coal_- that was fastened to the end of the stick was highly flammable, and could burn for a long time- which was good to know.

I began to walk down the tunnel, away from the coming night. The lamb hesitated, before following me nervously. I scratched him behind his ears to let him know everything was going to fine, although I kept my hand on my sword just in case.

As I later realized, I probably should have read that third page in the handbook.

* * *

My lone footsteps echoed against the walls of the mineshaft. The lamb's footsteps were much quieter than mine, to the point that they almost didn't exist. Sometimes, I glanced over my shoulder to see if he was still following me, and, thankfully, he was- albeit hesitantly and a bit nervously. It may have been irrational, but these small details made me feel much lonelier than I did before.

Guided only by torchlight, I continued walking in utter silence. I had seen a couple bats, and like the book had stated, they were small and fled whenever I got close. Their squeaking _was_ a relief to the silence that blanketed the cave, but encounters with the small animals were always brief and tended to end in more solitude and silence.

Additionally, I found more wooden chests scattered around, though they only seemed to contain rotten food and worn-out mining equipment. Due to convenience, I picked up a sturdy stone pickaxe that wasn't quite as deteriorated as the other tools and placed it in my backpack, making a mental note to use it in the future. I briefly wondered how large this labyrinth was for "N.C" to need this much resupplying.

Another thing I soon discovered about the mineshaft was that it wasn't just a straight path. It branched off into many more tunnels, twisting around into corners and intersecting randomly. I struggled to remember the route outside, but I just couldn't. All the supports, walls... even the dusty wood and old cobwebs of the tunnels looked the same. I was lost.

Lost, and exhausted. It was probably due to the time of day, but my body wanted nothing more than to find a slightly less dusty corner and fall asleep. Consciously, I refused to give into my body's needs. According to the notes left behind in that chest, this mineshaft was dangerous. But it was also my best chance at reaching my goal. I didn't fully acknowledge it until later, but it seemed like the only thing keeping me going was my will to find humans and to find out who I was.

It was a long while of aimless walking, trying to find an exit, before I encountered anything at all.

It was when I had stumbled into a much larger room, although it lacked any noticeable features aside from the earthy floor. I would have given it a single glance and continued walking, if it hadn't been for _something else_ I saw in the corner of my eye that made me freeze in my tracks.

In the almost total darkness of the room, I could only see as much as I could make out in the torchlight, which wasn't much. But in the corner, there was a large, dark humanoid figure standing with its back turned to me. It was very tall and thin, to the point where its head brushed the ceiling. Its limbs were strangely elongated, and the way it stood on its feet was almost animal-like. It had a faint, violet aura emanating from it, and it appeared to be fingering around with an object in its hands.

Of course, all of this was mostly assumption on my part- I only had time to glimpse it, hazily, for a split second. I went rigid and took a sharp intake of breath in surprise, and I did a double take. And when I looked that second time, it was gone.

I blinked, but it did not reappear. And the temperature of the room seemed to have dropped by a few degrees. Was I losing my grip on reality already, from the hours in complete isolation? _No, I couldn't have just hallucinated that... but how did it disappear so quickly?_

I was drawing a blank. Determining that nothing could be done about the strange, shadowy creature, I decided to ignore it and continue working on getting out of the mineshaft.

I took a few steps before I remembered something. I checked over my shoulder to see if the lamb was still following me, and I received another sudden shock. I silently cursed.

The lamb was missing.

* * *

_Why am I even doing this? There's no point._

That was the question I kept asking myself as I backtracked through the tunnels, struggling to locate the lost animal. The only use he had to me was psychological comfort- otherwise, he was a liability. Something to slow me down and something I had to find sustenance for. There should have been no good reason that I turned around immediately after realizing that the creature was nowhere in sight.

So why was I looking for him?

What made things worse was that it was just as much of a maze going backwards as going forwards, and by the time I passed my fifth intersection I was positive I was going down a route I had never been through before. The lamb could have gone any other direction, and if that was so, it would be highly unlikely that I would run into him.

Despite all of this, I continued searching. I was quite thankful that the torch was still burning, as it would be much more difficult without a source of light. It appeared that I had discovered a new trait about myself- I was rather stubborn. At least, if it were something emotional driving me.

I guess the only reason that I wanted to find the sheep was that he was the only outlet that I could let my true emotions through. The only creature in this desolate world that didn't want me dead, and, despite not being quite a human, being something I could relate to. We were both alone, and from the looks of it, we were both afraid. Logically, I knew that I shouldn't be exaggerating since I had only met the lamb a day or two ago, and _he_ didn't display much emotion or thought other than being hungry and wanting my attention. Like I said, irrational, psychological comfort.

_But it's still hopeless._

I wished logic and despair would leave me alone.

After a while, I found myself pausing to take breaks more frequently. I was extremely tired and probably sleep-deprived, occasionally nodding off before snapping back to reality. Even though I was trying to follow the paths that sloped upwards instead of downwards, hoping to find an exit to the outside, I still didn't find anything promising. A couple of multicolored ores stuck out in the walls, but I didn't feel inclined to mine them. And the lamb still didn't appear.

The only real difference I noticed about the tunnels was that the amount of cobwebs were increasing.

_Probably means I'm reaching the more unused sections..._

My dulled thought process could only deduce that much. If I had been paying closer attention, I would have noticed that the cobwebs weren't covered in dust, and instead looked far more fresh.

I only realized that something was off when I heard something that sounded somewhat like damp hisses.

I went rigid with fear and grabbed my sword, my previous state of grogginess vanishing completely. Alert and tensely breathing, I surveyed my surroundings in the torchlight, trying to determine where the noises were coming from- initially, I thought it had been another one of those mottled green monsters, but this hissing sounded... different. Less like a dry fuse, and more like a windpipe being throttled repeatedly. _(Now that was just lovely- sleep deprivation seems to have given me an odd imagination as well.)_

I couldn't pick up anything in the dimness aside from my immediate surroundings. _Guess I'll have to work with those, then... _Ahead of me was completely blocked off by tangled webs and silky strands. My adrenaline-powered alertness now realized how recently-made the webs looked. And the hissing noises were getting more audible, now accompanied by a kind of sticky scuttling pattern.

_Spiders..._

The mass of webs and hissing suddenly made sense. This was a spider nest, and I had just attracted their attention.

I gripped the hilt of my sword firmly, drawing it from my belt and holding it ready. If I handled spiders before, who says I couldn't handle them now? Although I didn't know how many there were- in this somewhat cramped space, I didn't have any desire of getting overwhelmed. From the sound of it, I had a lot of spiders to kill.

The first spider that came into sight made me confused. Initially, I could only see the glowing red eyes in the dark, and I was startled by how... _tiny_ it was. Was it spider offspring, or was this variety somewhat smaller than the ones I was used to? The differences became more distinct, however, when it scuttled into the torchlight. It _was_ much smaller, but it was also a venomous shade of greenish blue, and the hair covering its legs seemed to be thicker.

In addition, it was much faster. A split second after I registered its features, it lunged for my throat with a triumphant screech.

I automatically slashed my sword in a circle, slicing through arachnid's abdomen with a sickening _splurt._ The twitching body slammed into the side of the tunnel, splattering the milky blood across the wall and floor. That didn't concern me, though, because at that moment I noticed about six or seven other groups of red eyes glaring at me from the darkness- some from the floor, some from the ceiling. Apparently I was correct in predicting that this was a nest.

A couple more came into the light and pounced at me, forcing me to drop the torch on the ground and hold my sword two-handed. After a couple seconds I entered a pattern of sorts- slice, stab, block, repeat. If they came too close to be hit or when I was overwhelmed, I would bat them away using the flat side of the sword and stab into the head of the nearest one. The adrenaline had pushed every other thought out of my brain, almost like I was reduced to primal instinct. I still could analyze the situation, but I was no longer thinking about the more trivial things. I was thinking about getting out of this alive.

Still, as I fought, I had a vague concern about these blue spiders- they appeared to be a different species, and if so, how were they different from the dark gray-brown spiders I had seen on the surface?

However, the prior exhaustion seemed to be taking its toll on me- my limbs ached, and my movements weren't as coordinated as I would have liked. Soon, I found myself getting slightly overwhelmed- despite being able to kill or cripple most of the spiders in one hit, there was almost no end to them, and they seemed to be coming from multiple directions. Sometimes, the bulk of them would knock me over, but I usually panicked and killed them before they could sink their hideous fangs into me. Unfortunately, they were slightly more cunning than I expected.

It was near the end of the fight, when all my energy was practically spent and I was breathing heavily. I had killed most of them off, leaving scattered corpses everywhere and practically painting the walls with their body fluids. The conflict was tedious, but I didn't get severely wounded aside from a couple of painful bruises from being battered around. Many of the living spiders had fled, and the ones still attacking seemed much more hesitant in their movements. That made me more confident, despite my weariness.

I sliced off a couple legs of one of the few remaining spiders, and after falling to the ground it dragged itself back into the shadowy cobwebs. I interpreted this as a futile attempt at escape, and I slashed through the sticky silk in order to follow it. With one quick motion I beheaded it, staining my sword and clothing even further with the whitish spider blood.

Despite my unbearable exhaustion and the sweat soaking my skin, I was overall satisfied with the kill. I was about to rest and revel silently in my victory for a moment... before I heard rapid scuttling coming from my left. I turned a split second too late in time to see pointed fangs and blood-red eyes speeding towards my neck.

I couldn't react in time to deflect or dodge it, so I did what any human would naturally do- my arm swung up to block the blow. That proved to be my mistake.

I gave a hoarse shout of pain as I felt the spider's fangs plunge into my wrist. I first tried shaking it off, but its bite only sunk in deeper. Blood began trickling down my arm. Seeing no other option, I used my other arm to brutally stab the sword directly through its head. Only then did it released its grip, and it twitched violently before crashing to the floor to join the other spider corpses.

Panting heavily, I stared numbly at the unbelievably painful, puncturing holes in my wrist. Scarlet blood flowed down from it freely, dripping onto the floor. I could hardly move it without it protesting in agony. I dropped the sword to the ground and gripped the wound tightly with my other hand, struggling to put pressure on it to slow the bleeding. Realizing that I needed something else to bandage it, I desperately scanned my surroundings for a suitable material.

My gaze fell on the thick cobwebs. Although I had cut many of them to shreds in the conflict, there were some thick wads of the material left intact. I hesitated briefly before staggering over to them. Breathing shakily, I grasped a thick strand of spider silk, tore it off, and began binding it around my wrist. It absorbed the blood surprisingly well, and after I was done securing it, I could only see the faintest pink blotch under the silk. Having no more energy, I collapsed on my knees and tried to steady my breathing.

I still felt incredibly unnerved from the whole situation. That sudden ambush by that spider after I thought I had finished them off caught me completely off guard. I had never seen that many spiders in my existence, and I was positive I hadn't even seen that many _before_ I woke up in the forest. And what scared me was how intent they were to practically kill themselves _just so that I could die._ Why did absolutely everything want to kill me?

Suddenly, the silence was broken. My head snapped up as I registered the sounds. _More hissing._

There were _even more spiders_. I could see their red eyes staring at me from the darkness. Apparently I hadn't won, after all.

I reached for my sword, but I knew that I was beaten. I had absolutely no strength left in me in order to fight, and that displayed how smart this spider colony was- tire out the prey, then kill it when it was powerless to defend itself. A wave a nausea went through me, but I attributed it to the fear pounding throughout my body.

Without warning, the ceiling began to rumble. I glanced up, and I saw dust starting to fall to the floor. The hissing of the spiders turned from hostile to frightened, and a few of them began to flee just as the ceiling collapsed.

I immediately cowered and put my hands over my head (wincing at the sudden movement of my bitten hand), but the landslide of gravel and dirt didn't fall on me. Rather, it fell directly in between me and the spider nest, possibly crushing a few of the arachnids in the process. The loud, grating, rumbling sound nearly deafened me, and I shut my eyes tightly and remained in my huddled position until the landslide settled. It had completely blocked off the nest from me, and it left a gaping hole in the ceiling, which I assumed was where the landslide came from. I was very hesitant to move from my spot until I heard a single sound.

_Baaaaa..._

My eyes widened in disbelief, and my head shot up towards the all-too-familiar noise. And, lo and behold, it was the lamb, standing on the edge of the hole in the ceiling and staring down at me expectantly. I was shocked, not just at the animal's sudden reappearance, but the circumstances in which he reappeared.

_Did he really just cause a ceiling landslide and inadvertently save me from a spider swarm at the same time?_

Before I knew it, I gave a thin smile. Then it morphed to silent chuckles, and the chuckling burst out into weak, strained, but genuine laughter. The stress of everything that had happened seemed to have finally broke me emotionally, but I didn't care. The only thing I could do was continue to laugh painfully, in my hoarse, slightly high-pitched laughter.

The lamb tilted his head and gave a small bleat, as if confused by my minor emotional breakdown.

Eventually, the exhaustion overtook me and I ceased my laughter, and I struggled to regain my breath. I knew I should probably turn around and get as far away from the nest as possible, in case the spiders found a way around the roadblock, but I barely had enough energy to stand. My hand still throbbed painfully, and I was starting to get an untraceable, nauseous headache. It was most likely due to the stress and fatigue, though...

The lamb stumbled down the gravel slope towards me, and he began nuzzling my side. I weakly patted his soft wool, happy to see the animal again, but too tired to process anything correctly. I leaned against the mineshaft wall, ignoring the pressure the stone put on my skull, and within moments my eyes shut and I fell into a light doze.

* * *

When I snapped out of my half-asleep state, I knew I hadn't been in it for long. The fact the lamb hadn't fallen asleep was the first sign, although he had curled up into my side. Also, I didn't feel like my exhaustion had been relieved, although I did feel like I had enough energy to stand up. Unfortunately, I could hear some distant hissing on the other side of the gravel landslide, putting me on the alert. I had to get going very soon.

I staggered to my feet and began limping over to where the still-burning torch and my sword lied flat on the ground. I managed to put the sword back into my belt and pick up the torch, but I knew I was in no condition to fight if I ran into another monster or spider. Silently, I hoped that wouldn't be the case.

My headache was worse, unfortunately. I still couldn't tell where it was coming from, but I refused to let it hinder me. I needed to get moving.

All of my movements indicated to the lamb that we were about to move, and, fortunately, he seemed to be far more eager to stay close behind me this time around. I still don't know whether or not he wandered off intentionally, or really got separated.

However, as I walked slowly but steadily through the labyrinth, I realized that my headache wasn't something I could continue to ignore. Mainly because it was getting worse. A _lot_ worse.

I finally stopped my staggering movement and leaned on the wall- pale, shivery, skin coated in cold sweat. The lamb gave a concerned, nervous bleat, but I barely paid any attention to him. The nausea was reaching such high intensity that I wanted to vomit, and considering how I hadn't replenished my body fluids recently, it would probably result in dry heaving. All my muscles ached, and it wasn't just from the fatigue. I was also unbelievably groggy, and I found it difficult to think straight. One thought was clear, and it seemed to be the only thing I could think of.

_What the heck is wrong with me?_

Even in my current state, the answer didn't take long to figure out. My eyes widened. Without thinking, my trembling hand grabbed at my left wrist and tore off the makeshift bandage. I stared at the wound in utter horror.

The wound had already stopped bleeding, but that wasn't what made me stare in dumb shock. The skin around the fang marks was blotchy and yellowish, and directly around the punctures was tinted green. Throbbing pain seemed to spread from it throughout my entire body.

That stupid blue spider had _poisoned me_.

I recalled that when I first saw that spider on the edge of the forest, I had some background knowledge that some spiders were poisonous and others weren't. I wish I kept that in mind, since now I had to learn it the hard way. And, unfortunately, my inner knowledge didn't offer any hints on whether spider venom was deadly or not. But what I was feeling right now... this had to be fatal. It had to be. Why else would it feel like I was dying from the inside?

The agony was becoming unbearable. The strength gave out in my legs, and I dropped the torch and collapsed painfully on my side. My breathing came in shallow and shaky, and ever so often I twitched with pain. I lay there in complete agony, black bordering the edges of my vision, and I struggled to push past it, to endure the poisoning. At least, until I died, or passed out from the pain and nauseating, pounding headache. And now that I was rendered immobile, would the monsters find me? Would they take advantage of my helpless state in order to rip me to shreds?

_I don't want to die... I don't want to die..._

The last thing I comprehended was the lamb giving a loud, fearful bleat, and faint footsteps of something two-legged approaching my body. A chill seemed to fill the tunnel, as well as complete silence. I weakly attempted to shift my head to see what it was, but I couldn't even muster enough strength to lift myself anymore.

Darkness was starting to fill my vision, and the only image I remembered was black, humanoid-looking feet halting in front of me, although they were slightly clawed and stood on their soles, like an animal. At least, that's what I thought it was. The blood pounding through my ears made it impossible for me to focus, and my vision was dimming...

I lost consciousness almost immediately afterward.


	8. T edium

**Another chapter. Nothing much happens in this one, unless you consider flashbacks and delirium to be eventful.  
**

**Also, Endermen both fascinate and freak me out at the same time.  
**

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**CHAPTER 8**

_(Everything was foggy, obscure.)_

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_(Maybe it was because I was dreaming.)_

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_(Either that, or I was on the thin line between oblivion and awareness.)_

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"_Swordplay?"_

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"_Are you serious? No one takes swords seriously- they're primitive. Keep up with the times."_

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"_I find them to be useful, in fact."_

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"_How? Can't guns handle everything they can? Swords kill, guns kill faster. There's the bonus of being long ranged, too..."_

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_(I felt something roughly clench around the back collar of my shirt, forcing me upright...)_

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"_You're not seeing my point. Swords may be more primitive, but they're far more convenient. You never run out of ammunition for them, and they're a lot more accessible. You could make them out of scrap material, while guns are much more complex to build."_

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_(It was cold... eerily cold. Increased pressure on my neck, and friction on my lower body... I was being dragged...)_

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"_Swords aren't long ranged, though. You didn't address that."_

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"_There's archery to cover that. I understand your reasoning- firearms have much more power and shoot instantly, but swords and bows are more practical in the long run, survival-wise. Isn't that the point of why they're teaching us survival training?"_

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"_Pst, whatever... I still prefer my shotgun to some flimsy blade..."_

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_(The scraping friction had halted, but the collar of my shirt was still grasped firmly. I could vaguely hear and feel what was going on, but not comprehend or respond.)_

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_The memory abruptly skipped ahead._

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_Ragged gasps forced their way out of my chest. I was running- running faster than I had ran in my life. Loud screeching noises- alarms- were coming from all directions. Fear. It blocked all logical thought._

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_I had to get away. __**It**__ was chasing me. And I had a feeling it wouldn't let me get out of this alive. I was unarmed. All I could do was run._

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_(My body was being dragged again. I vaguely wondered where I was being taken, but my thoughts were too formless and hazy to process fully...)_

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_Another skip._

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_It slammed me into the cold stone wall, pinning me down by the throat so powerfully that I felt my windpipe compress. I writhed about, trying to break free, but it was no use. Its icy hands constricted tighter._

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_Fighting back the darkness bordering my vision, I painfully tilted my head upwards just enough to see its face._

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_Harsh violet eyes glared back._

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_(The dragging once again came to a halt, with my slack body leaning slightly on a wall. The tight, unknown grip supporting me released, and I collapsed limply back to the floor with a painful thud. My already-vague awareness dimmed, and I slumped back into complete oblivion.)_

* * *

When I began approaching consciousness once more, I slowly realized how difficult it was this time around. And I also realized that I wasn't dead- although part of me wished that I was.

Pulling myself out of oblivion seemed nearly impossible with the overpowering _weakness- _something that made me nearly black out while struggling to remain aware. The overall sluggish, groggy feeling distantly reminded me of what I felt like when I first woke up in that forest. That is, if the grogginess was accompanied by severe headaches, muscle pain, and nausea. It felt like I might have gotten a fever as well- just perfect.

The blend of those factors made me sick to my stomach. Interestingly, the poison effects didn't seem quite as strong as they were before I passed out, but it still made it impossible to think straight and the urge to vomit was still present.

I opened my eyes wearily, but I was only met with darkness. The torch must have gone out while I was unconscious... no, it was something else. My posture and position were altered from before I passed out, and my surroundings felt... different. The foggy realization came to me seconds later. _I wasn't in the same part of the mineshaft anymore._

I tried to shift my awkward body position somewhat, perhaps to figure out my environment better, but even the attempt of lifting my head made a powerful wave of dizziness shoot through me. Eventually, I concluded that it would be foolish to try to move, at least at the moment. It seemed like the only thing I could do was continue to lie there, breathing shakily, trying to endure the feverish pain. The cold air of the mineshaft did nothing to help.

Although my thoughts swam and I didn't seem to be able to grasp a subject longer than a few moments, I found myself struggling to remember what had happened directly before I passed out. I had a conviction that something, in fact, _did_ occur- maybe I had clung onto consciousness long enough to sense that. Maybe it had something to do with how my body was mysteriously relocated. I also thought I had dreamed about something... voices? And then after that...

Chills shuddered down my spine. I didn't fully remember what happened near the end of the dream, but I could remember violet eyes, and it frightened me enough to _not_ want to know. It seemed like every time I fell asleep, I was assailed by nightmare after nightmare- and I didn't even know where they were coming from. _Are they memories? Or am I just paranoid and losing my sanity?_

Neither seemed especially appealing- if they _were_ memories, the fact they frightened me couldn't be good, even if I was eager to find out who I was. And I dearly hoped that I wasn't insane- although I couldn't deny that I was at least _slightly_ paranoid.

I sighed and allowed my body to slacken. My throat was very dry and my stomach ached with hunger, but there wasn't much I could do about that right now. If I couldn't shift my body that much without extreme nausea, then perhaps I should just let myself fall back asleep. I wouldn't feel so ill, and it would make time pass faster. After deciding that, I closed my eyes and steadied my breathing, trying to ignore the pain pounding in my head.

A while later, I nearly slipped into a doze... if it hadn't been for a sudden, loud noise.

_Sssssssssssssskkk..._

I jolted out of my stupor almost instantly, and the unexpected burst of adrenaline made me tense and quicken my breathing. I couldn't determine where the sound was coming from in the darkness of the tunnel except _very close-_ much to my dismay. It sounded like something being scraped, hard and quickly, against stone...

There was a sudden burst of orange light and the smell of smoke, and I recoiled at the change of brightness. A rough clattering noise echoed as the light source was tossed on the ground in front of me. As my eyes adjusted to the new lighting, I stared at the flaming piece of wood with blank confusion. _A... torch? Wha..._

However, it didn't seem like the torch was the main event. In the light, I noticed a glint of something metallic in the corner of my eye. I raised my head, forcing myself to ignore the lurch of nausea that came with it. My vision swam somewhat, but I still managed to fix my gaze on the object.

The torch had exposed a silvery, metal object no less than a meter away from my head. It almost looked like- no, it _was_ a bucket. It looked slightly old, as well as rusted near the bottom, but all I could do was be utterly perplexed on how it got there in the first place. The same question applied to the torch... which had quite obviously been _thrown in front of me._

_Was it a person?_

Naturally, I was ecstatic at the possibility, but my logical side realized the probability was highly unlikely. If they truly were a human, then they wouldn't be so... _subdued_ in their actions. It also wouldn't be this silent, or give off such an unnatural feel. I gave a nervous shiver (whether from the fear or poisoning, I couldn't tell) and sharply glanced into the darkness that the torch failed to illuminate. I _knew_ that I was being watched from somewhere in those depths, but I couldn't make out anything. The whole atmosphere of the situation unnerved me.

Agonizingly, I pushed myself up into a crawling position, fully intending to struggle over to the bucket. If someone- or _something_- placed it there, then that meant they intended for me to find it. And, seeing as I had no other ideal options, I saw no point in ignoring their offer.

Despite the close distance, the poison effects made reaching the bucket no comfortable task. My limbs didn't seem to want to support my weight, and it took all my willpower to keep from collapsing. In addition, the headache and nausea spiked in intensity until, by the time I pulled myself next to the bucket, I could taste bile in my throat and had an extremely strong urge to vomit.

Panting weakly, I tucked my legs under my body so that I was in a lopsided kneeling position. I supported my upper body by placing both my hands on the sides of the bucket. I waited for my vision to stop blurring and shifting before I continued. Now that I was next to the bucket, I could see the contents- it was filled to the top with an opaque, white fluid. My obscured mental state made me hesitate for a second before I grasped the memory of what it was. _Milk._

Which was, to my knowledge, a consumable fluid. And I felt extremely dehydrated.

Upon realizing this, I practically dove headfirst into the bucket, shakily lapping up the substance. It tasted fresh, thick, and slightly warmer than the air surrounding it, which soothed my parched throat immensely. I continued drinking, blotting out everything else and focusing on swallowing as much of the liquid as possible.

After a few seconds, I was forced to pause in order to catch my breath, and I was mildly surprised at how desperate I acted. Trying to regain some of my dignity, I nervously wiped off my mouth with my sleeve and shot a glance to the side. The darkness betrayed nothing, despite the fact I was _absolutely positive_ that something was still watching me.

Seeing that nothing could be done about it, I returned my gaze to the bucket. Strangely, my vision didn't seem to be swimming as much anymore, and the nausea was reduced. Maybe it was because I had quenched my thirst and filled my stomach with _something,_ but even then, I felt a lot better than I did before. Still, I felt ill enough that I didn't want to drink any more of the milk, so I resorted to lying down on my side next to the bucket. It aided with the poison effects, but I was too tense and nervous to fall back asleep. Whatever was watching me wouldn't leave me alone.

I examined my surroundings in detail. Apparently I was right- I _wasn't_ in the same part of the mineshaft as before. Previously, I had been in the center of a tunnel that branched off from an intersection, but now I was at a dead end, and it was too dark for me to determine where the tunnel ahead of me led. And because I had a premonition that _something_ was hidden in the darkness, I wanted to stay very far away from it.

I sighed and rested my head on the hard stone. Once I felt well enough to get moving, I would have to get over my paranoia enough to return to the tunnels. From there, I would have to relocate the lamb (I struggled to stifle my panic) and avoid any more of those poisonous spiders as I attempt to find the exit.

Speaking of those spiders, I found myself wondering if N.C.'s monster manual had anything to say about them. I gritted my teeth involuntarily- if only I read the entire thing through, I might have not ended up in this pathetically _helpless_ situation. Carefully, so I didn't get overly nauseated, I pushed myself to my knees and slid my heavy backpack onto the ground beside me. I pulled out the handbook and returned to lying on my side. I flipped through the pages, reading only by the torchlight, but it wasn't long before I reached the page I was looking for. An illustration of a hairy spider with venom dripping out of its fangs greeted me, and I glanced at the writing below it.

_Cave Spider_

_Relative Size:__ Around half the size of a normal giant spider- that is, slightly bigger than my face. Legs make the size seem to be somewhat larger._

_Battle Strategy:__ These spiders, despite being tiny in comparison to their above-ground cousins, are deadly. They have a venom that is potent enough to knock a creature out within minutes after being bitten. Obviously, it's not designed to kill, merely incapacitate. I learned this the hard way- luckily, I had an antidote on hand, so the effects didn't last for long. As long as they don't bite you, they're fairly easy to handle. Swords slice through their exoskeletons very easily, and I suppose guns and bows work too._

_Notes:__ This species of spider seems to live in huge nests. The largest I found had nearly a hundred individuals. If they're too much for me to handle, I block off the passage. These are, by far, the most dangerous monsters within this cavern._

The second after I finished, I closed the book and dropped it back into my backpack. Apparently, it said nothing I didn't know already. However, I was intrigued by the mention of an antidote- if I had one, I wouldn't have to be as concerned with the cave spiders and their poison when I started traveling again.

However, a lurch of nausea reminded me that venom was still circulating in my body, and that I was in no fit condition to leave. My headache intensified, and, dizzily, I dragged myself back over to the milk bucket and started to drink some more. I knew it probably wouldn't do much, but the milk seemed to help me feel better. Besides, I still felt rather dehydrated.

After drinking again, I collapsed on my side and let my mind drift again. I knew that I was frightened to leave, not only due to my weak state, but because of whatever was in the darkness. I knew that it was highly likely that it threw the torch and left me the milk in the bucket, and for that, I was absolutely bewildered.

_Is it... _helping_ me? Or is it waiting?_

Nothing really made sense. Fatigue and poisoning was making it difficult to think straight. My breathing was starting to even out, as I was feeling inexplicably drowsy from all the liquid I had consumed. In addition, the watched feeling didn't feel quite as strong at the moment, causing my fearful adrenaline rush to lessen somewhat.

In the end, I decided that it wouldn't hurt to rest. At least for a short while.

* * *

_(I felt detached from reality.)_

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_(I must be dreaming again...)_

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_..._

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_I was breathing heavily, my vision dimming in and out from exhaustion. I could only stare in disbelief at the shadowy corpse before me._

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_Violet fluid dripped off of my blade onto the floor. Some sort of blood._

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"_How... how did you kill it?"_

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_I felt myself shaking my head, confused._

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"_I... don't know."_


End file.
